Admit
it, you assume he is a complete lecher and she’s just in it for mercenary
reasons. Filmmaker Debbie Lum also had her own preconceptions about the sixty
year old American man and the thirty year old Chinese woman who got engaged
over the internet. However, their
developing relationship proved to be more complicated and messy than Lum ever
expected. She documented the drama in Seeking Asian Female (promo here), which airs this
coming Monday on PBS’s Independent Lens.
Lum
could hardly have asked for a better subject for her examination of “yellow
fever” than Steven Bolstad. When
discussing his romantic preferences he utterly unabashed and guileless. It is
hard to dislike someone so forthright, even when he makes wince-inducing
comments. After many internet
flirtations with younger Chinese women, he falls for Sandy, who accepts his
proposal, much to Lum’s head-scratching disbelief. Yet, the miscommunication starts almost
immediately when Sandy moves into her intended’s Bay Area apartment (which
looks darned spacious by New York standards, especially for an airport toll
collector).
Not
unexpectedly, the culture clash takes a toll, but Sandy’s jealous suspicions
are more serious. A conflicted Lum finds
herself pulled into the story, acting as a reluctant translator and marriage
counselor. Obviously, she is mindful of
the potential objectivity pitfalls. What
would the Maysles Brothers say? Probably
do what you need to do to finish the film.
Indeed,
Seeking often feels the sort of
documentary that serves as reality television for art house-festival audiences. Yes, it examines cross cultural ethnic and
gender stereotyping, but it comes with a heck of a lot of voyeuristic fireworks. Of course, that also means it is highly
watchable.
You
have to wonder what did not make it into the film. Frankly, viewers might be most curious about
Lum (who happens to be in an interracial marriage herself). Based on her refereeing sessions with the
bickering couple, Seeking could
probably be remade into an amusing comedy with her as the harried central
character.
